FY 2009 Omnibus Funding Bill: DOE Office of Science

Funding for the Department of Energy’s Science programs would increase by 18.8 percent or $754.9 million in the FY 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Bill that was released yesterday by House and Senate conferees.

This bill, H.R. 1105, is scheduled for House and Senate consideration in coming days, as Congress attempts to get this legislation to President Obama before funding expires on March 6. The funding for the Office of Science is one component of this $410 billion bill that wraps up the FY 2009 budget cycle. A stalemate between the Democratic congressional leadership and President Bush last year lead to an agreement to flat fund programs in nine bills that remained unfinished when the fiscal year started on October 1. The 218,000 word omnibus bill that was filed yesterday combines all of these unfinished bills into a single bill.

A hand-annotated copy of this bill, and its accompanying Joint Explanatory Statement are available here . Important Explanatory Statement language regarding various Office of Science programs can be viewed in “Division C - Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,” which is found on pdf pages 79 and 80. A table with specific line funding amounts can be viewed at pdf pages 105-107. (Important notes: consult the Explanatory Statement and not the bill text language, and use the pdf and not the typed page numbers.)

The following are the recommended levels of funding for Science programs in H.R. 1105, taken from the above cited table:

Total Science:

The FY 2008 enacted budget was $4,017.7 million. The Bush Administration’s FY 2009 request was $4,722.0 million. The omnibus bill recommends $4,772.8 million. This is an increase of $754.9 million or 18.8 percent over FY 2008.

Advanced Scientific Computing:

The FY 2008 enacted budget was $351.2 million. The Bush Administration’s FY 2009 request was $366.8 million. The omnibus bill recommends $368.8 million. This is an increase of $17.6 million or 5.0 percent.

Basic Energy Sciences:

The FY 2008 enacted budget was $1,269.9 million. The Bush Administration’s FY 2009 request was $1,568.2 million. The omnibus bill recommends $1,572.0 million. This is an increase of $302.1 million or 23.8 percent.

Biological and Environmental Research:

The FY 2008 enacted budget was $544.4 million. The Bush Administration’s FY 2009 request was $568.5 million. The omnibus bill recommends $601.5 million. This is an increase of $57.1 million or 10.5 percent.

Fusion Energy Sciences:

The FY 2008 enacted budget was $286.6 million. The Bush Administration’s FY 2009 request was $493.1 million. The omnibus bill recommends $402.6 million. This is an increase of $116.0 million or 40.5 percent.

High Energy Physics:

The FY 2008 enacted budget was $688.3 million. The Bush Administration’s FY 2009 request was $805.0 million The omnibus bill recommends $795.7 million. This is an increase of $107.4 million or 15.6 percent over FY 2008.

Nuclear Physics:

The FY 2008 enacted budget was $432.7 million. The Bush Administration’s FY 2009 request was $510.1 million. The omnibus bill recommends $512.1 million. This is an increase of $79.4 million or 18.3 percent over FY 2008.

Other categories of funding include science laboratories infrastructure, safeguards and security, science program direction, ARPA-E, workforce development, and congressionally directed projects